Japan: Swimmer found alive after being swept away by sea 36 hours later, 80km from coast
A happy outcome was announced by Japanese authorities. Last Monday, a woman who was swimming near the beach 80 kilometers off the coast of Japan was rescued after drifting for 36 hours. After being rescued, the woman, who has not been named, told rescuers that she had been swept out to sea and was unable to return to shore because she was swimming with a rubber buoy.
The coast guard launched a search and rescue operation after being alerted on Monday that the Chinese national was missing in Shizuoka prefecture in central Japan. “It was around 7:55 p.m. on July 8 when we received the information after the woman's friend reported her missing,” a local coast guard official told AFP.
Swimmer's days are not in danger
It was finally spotted Wednesday at 7:48 a.m. local time off the southern tip of the Boso Peninsula, in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, by a cargo ship, the official said. Two crew members of a small tanker also passing in the area, who were contacted by radio, jumped into the sea to rescue it.
“There are 80 kilometres as the crow flies (between the beach and where the swimmer was rescued) but we assume she drifted further,” the official said. The swimmer was taken to hospital but her life was not in danger.
Every year, people are carried away by the sea, especially when they are in the Pines. These small natural pools, which appear quiet and difficult to detect, trap swimmers who are swept out to sea.